Trananclioiis. 65 



" And the said Maister Tlionias Maxwell, Vicai- of Dumfries, 

 for certain causes, &c., resigned all his rights into the hands of 

 Herbert Raining, as the deputed representative of the Superiors 

 — the Provost, itc, of the Bui-gh of Dumfries — in favour of and 

 for a new Seisin to be granted to a noble and potent lord, 

 William, Lord Hereis, and Dame Cathrine Kar, his Spouse, &c. 

 In presence of Roger . . . Burgess of the said Burgli ; Hugh 

 Maxwell, son of John Maxwell in Logane ; William Maxwell, 

 brother of the said John ; Herbert Hunter, servitor to the said 

 Lord ; John Maxwell and Da\id M'Math, servitors to the said 

 burgh, Witnesses, ifec. 



" Herbert Cunynghame, of the diocese of Glasgow, Notary 

 Public, and Writer and Notary in the Bui-gh of Dumfries. 



" Signed and confirmed by James Rig, also Notary Public." 



There is no Writ showing in what way the Vicar himself 

 became possessed of a property of this peculiar description, but 

 little doubt can be entertained that it would be as part of the 

 income of the Vicarage, to which he had been presented by 

 James VL, 1st July, 1579. 



It appears then that the Sandbed Mill adjoined the east end 

 of the Old Bridge, and was connected structurally with it in 

 such a way as to show that the two buildings had been erected 

 contemporaneously and together ; that the Town derived their 

 rights in the Mill from the King's Charter gr.anting them the 

 possessions of the Brethren of the Greyfriai-s (as they did the 

 Bridge dues), and a Disposition in their favour by JoIiti Maxwell 

 of Gribton, to whom the property descended herita))ly from liis 

 grandfather, William, Lord Herries, who again acquired it from 

 the last holder of the Vicarage of Dumfries. The Church, the 

 Bridge, and the Mill are thus linked together as parts of a 

 common design. The great benefactress of the district in 

 the 13th century, Lady Devorgilla, founded the Greyfriars' 

 Monastery in the Town. She connected her pro\'ince of 

 Galloway with the Town of Dumfries by a stone Bridge of 

 imposing dimensions, granting its revenues for the support of the 

 Monastery. And it now appears probable that she also erected 

 the Sandbed Mill at the end of the Bridge, its revenues, like tlie 

 Bi'idge dues, being piously devoted to the Church. 



No description of building is more frequently mentioned in 

 medieval documents than mills. " Perhaps," says Mr Cosmo 

 Innes, "one of the oldest adjuncts to a barony — one of the most 



9 



